Life as We Don't Know It
by AsgardianGrizzly
Summary: The virus spreads quickly. It is merciless. It will kill you. But maybe we can hold it off. Maybe, just maybe, we can live a little longer. Because right now, we don't know life. Everyday we play a game against life, but life just cheated and brought the dead back. Now we're in uncharted territory. This is life as we don't know it. SYOC. SUBMISSIONS CLOSED.
1. Prologue and Information

Information/Prologue-

 **Hey everybody! So, this is my first Walking Dead fic and it is an SYOC.**

 **Not just that, but it is a Walking Dead SYOC that begins at the same time as** _ **Fear the Walking Dead**_ **! The story will take place during the beginning of the Walker Apocalypse and continue from there. It'll follow a separate group of people that begin in a massive neighborhood in a fictional city called Sheris, Wisconsin.**

 **There's a few notes for submitting a character.**

 **Firstly, I'm accepting 12 characters, 8 main and 4 expendable. You can submit one of each but they both might not be accepted.**

 **Secondly, you can't be mad if I kill of your character.**

 **Thirdly, I know this form has a lot of questions but a lot of them are yes or no questions, so don't be intimidated. ;)**

 **Fourthly, I'm only accepting via PM and only if you actually** _ **try.**_ **No "He can survive the zombie bites". (-_-) No.**

 **The faster I get submissions the faster I'll begin. The first submissions will most likely appear in the first chapter/prologue.**

 **ANYWAYS, let's get to the form, shall we? (It's also on my profile)**

 _ **~TWD~TWD~TWD~**_

Full name:

Nickname (Optional):

Age (the age will affect the character's longevity):

Sexuality (I'm cool with anything, straight, homosexual, bisexual):

Nationality:

Hair:

Eyes:

Personality (detailed please):

Height (roughly):

Speed (1-10 ((10 is fastest)):

Facial features (wide eyes, strong cheekbones, etc):

Muscular build:

Body mass (thin and tall, short and stout, small and petite, etc):

Skin tone:

Where are they when they run into their first Walker?:

Weapons they can use at the beginning?:

Weapons they pick up on?:

Can they drive (have they been driving long)?:

Any injuries pre-virus (broken arm in cast, scoliosis, etc. Is the arm still broken?):

Any injuries gained since then (scrapes, scars, cuts, etc):

Medical issues (asthma, allergies, etc):

Addictions (drug addict, previously dealt with depression, alcoholic, smoker, etc):

Feelings on Walkers:

Family (name, age, relation, dead/alive):

History (detailed please):

Employment before breakout:

Skills:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Weaknesses:

Fears:

Where you would most likely find them?:

Relationship (wanted, unwanted, current, past, future):

The type of person they like:

The type of person they'd be friends with:

How would they react to a friend dying/being bitten?:

How would they react to _themselves_ getting bitten or fatally injured?:

How would you want them to die (if they did):

Situation you want them to be faced with (optional):

Other info:

 _ **~TWD~TWD~TWD~**_

 **Alright! Can't wait to see what you all whip up! :D PM me any questions**

 **See you in chapter 1,**

 **-AsgardianGrizzly**


	2. Dead Among Us

Chapter 1-

 **Wow. Okay so I thought I hadn't updated for like a month but as it turns out it's only been a 3 weeks. (._.)**

 **That's a relief…hehe…sorry.**

 **ANYWAYS! I'm here! So, I decided on keeping SOME of the first chapter. I've kept Christina's POV and CHANGED A LOT. So be sure to read. :) This will be draft number 3 (sorry this took so long). Hope you guys like it! ;D**

 **Sorry this chapter took so long. I was planning out WAY ahead in the storyline.**

 **WARNING: Gore, slight graphic descriptions, mentions of violence, swearing, mentions of death**

 **Let's get to it, shall we?**

* * *

 _Wallace Street Hospital – Sheris, Wisconsin_

"Time of death: 10:51 AM."

"That's fifteen _today_ ," Christina Bauer said exasperatingly as she gazed down at the corpse of a young man. She turned to the nurse at her side. " _Fifteen_ , Barbara. Fif-freaking-teen." She ran a hand through her long brown hair, which was tied back in a bun, loose strands dangling into her eyes and onto her pale freckled face. "What the hell is this thing?"

"Coughing, headaches, stomach pains, sensitivity to contact, nausea, raised temperature, extreme fever and then death. It's like a…a plague," Barbara replied. The redheaded woman peeled off her latex gloves and pulled the blanket up over the young man's head. "I'll go get someone." The nurse announced, earning a nod from Christina.

Christina gazed out of the hospital room window as Barbara left the room. By 'someone', Barbara meant a soldier. The military had sent people to the hospital a couple weeks ago, right when the virus started getting really bad. Now, men in beige camouflage and gasmasks could be seen in every hallway and around every corner. The hospital didn't give the corpses to the morgue anymore; they gave them to the soldiers. And the soldiers never told anyone what they did with the corpses, or why they needed them.

The sound of the sheets moving behind her caught Christina's attention. She spun around. The man, the young man who had recently died, was groaning and squirming around under the sheet.

"Oh my—" Christina cut herself off, hurrying to the bed. "Mr.—" Crap. What was his name? Oh, right! "Mr. Ronsen? Are you alright?" She drew back the sheet. Mr. Ronsen lolled his head left and right before his eyes came onto Christina. She hesitated, unsure of what to do. She placed a few fingers on his neck, taking his pulse. Wait where was the pul—?

He growled suddenly, snapping his teeth at her wrist. Christina jerked her arm away, gaping at him.

Ronsen sat up abruptly, wrapping his clammy hands around her neck, clawing at her shoulders. Christina shouted. "Get off me!" she shrieked when his grip tightened and he bit at her, she flailed her hand and it landed on a scalpel that had been set down after Ronsen's surgery. A solider came running in almost instantly, a large rifle in hand. Barbara ran behind him. He fired a shot into the man's head, killing him instantly.

Christina stared at the dead man. "What. The. _Hell?_ " she hissed, turning to the soldier.

"Did it bite you, ma'am?" the soldier inquired with a strong authority.

" _Excuse_ me?" Christina demanded, not harshly but surprised.

"Did the man bite or scratch you?" the solider reinstated.

Christina paused, staring at the soldier and expecting him to admit to making a joke. "N—no, he did not _bite_ or _scratch_ me." she said in disbelief.

The soldier nodded under his helmet and gas mask, "Thank you ma'am." He exited the room.

"Barb," addressed Christina, turning to Barbara. "What—"

She was cut off by the sound of the TV channel flickering from the quiet sound of a soap opera to an incoming NEWS report. Snatching the remote, Barbara turned up the volume so the two women could hear.

"Hello, this is Roger Rendot reporting," the newsman announced from the television. "The police have called for a half day at local schools this morning. They have stated that this newfound illness is getting a bit out of hand and could be getting passed down through physical contact. The authorities would like all parents in the area to pick up their children from school as soon as possible. I'll restate: the authorities would like all parents in the area to pick up their children from school _as soon as possible_. That is all."

Christina watched as the channel flipped back to the soap opera. She turned to Barbara, who nodded. "I'll be back tomorrow." Christina promised as she pulled off her own latex gloves and rushed hurriedly to the door. She slipped the scalpel that had been in her hand into her pocket for the time being.

The hallways were crowded. Doctors swarming patients. Nurses swarming doctors. Visitors swarming nurses. Patients begging for visitors. It was a mad house, but a controlled mad house. Soldiers kept the peace, separating visitors from doctors and allowing doctors to get their jobs done. Christina pushed her way through the crowd. She was tall, a good 5' 7" and it wasn't hard to clear a path. She stopped at the secretary's desk.

"I'm leaving to pick up my son," she said to a stout woman sitting behind the desk.

"Alright," replied the woman. "Christina Bauer, correct?" she asked, looking up warily.

"Yes, that's right," nodded Christina.

"Okay, you're good to go," the woman stated, offering Christina a friendly halfhearted smile.

The emergency room doctor smiled gratefully, "Thank you so much."

She forced her way back through the crowd and then down a few flights of stairs. Gunfire caught her ear and she froze mid step. Slowly turning to a door on her left, she reluctantly reached for the handle.

"Are you okay in there?" she asked uncertainly.

More gunfire. Single shots, not a machine gun. It was a controlled, precise action. She turned the creaky knob and opened the door, peering in a bit. Two soldiers were a far ways down the white tile hallway. Christina watched in horror as a soldier pressed a pistol to a sobbing young man's head, and _pulled the trigger_.

She released the knob, sprinting as fast as she could to the bottom of the stairwell and cringing when the door shut with a clang. She snatched her keycard from its home at her belt and shakily swiped it through the slot, missing the first two attempts. The sound of the door opening made her freeze up, but she unfroze quickly, shoving open the backdoor and running through the parking lot to her car.

The 32 year old unlocked the car hurriedly and jumped in, starting the engine and reversing backwards out of the lot.

 _He had a reason, he had a reason_ , Christina repeated in her head. _The man was already dead. He wasn't alive._

Except dead people don't cry.

Christina blinked away tears, taking a few breaths. She reached into her purse, which was laying on the passenger seat, and pulled out a cigarette. Lighting it, she perched it between her index and middle finger. Opening the window a crack, she stuck the tip out of the crack and watched out of the corner of her eyes as smoke dissipated into the wind.

It took about 20 minutes to drive down the long road to reach Richard—her gorgeous 6 year old son—'s daycare. The car skidded to a halt and Christina opened the door, standing up and looking at the school. A few cars littered the parking lot. The small school bus they used was missing. She jogged, heels tapping the pavement, and reached the daycare's doors.

"Hello?" she called, knocking her knuckles on the glass. No response came and she tugged the door only to find it was unlocked. "Richard?!" she shouted, entering the building. She glanced around nervously, eyes darting at her surroundings. "Richard! It's Mommy!" she called again, almost commanding him to appear.

 _Okay think_ , Christina sighed, running both hands through her hair. _Where would they take the kids?_ The Church. It was right down the road, the closest building to the daycare.

He had to be there.

* * *

 _ **~TWD~TWD~TWD~**_

 _Brown Street – Sheris, Wisconsin_

Christina halted the car, staring at the mass of vehicles in front of her. All of them were pointed away from the front of the car. It looked like they were all trying to leave the city. Shouts, car alarms and engines filled the air. Along with some sort of…growling…Christina swallowed hard. She should go. This didn't feel right. She was leaving right n—wait .What was that? No.

Shit.

A bright yellow school bus was parked in the massive pile up. It was farther down the road than Christina would've liked and smoke billowed out of the engine, the front of it having crashed into a large pickup truck.

Pulling the scalpel out of her hand, the doctor exited the blue sedan and looked around cautiously. She walked up to the nearest car. It was a dull red minivan. The front was crushed into the back of a large SUV, the SUV was in turn shoved into a white convertible (cover up) and that was slammed into something else, and so on. A metal lamppost had fallen on to the row, sending sparks every few minutes.

She clutched the scalpel so hard that her hand ached and peered into the minivan. She nearly puked at what she saw, and turned away quickly. She brought a fist to her mouth and gasped. The mangled corpse of a middle aged man sat at the wheel. His blonde hair was ratty and his skin was practically gray, his eyes sightless. His hand had been clutched around the interior door handle. _He was probably trying to escape_ , Christina thought sickly, choking back bile and hunching over. She flashed her gaze back at the man's corpse and swallowed thickly.

The top of the lamppost had shattered the windshield, the broken remains of the top had slammed through the front of the car, the tip top stabbing directly into the man's forehead. Christina let out a couple shallow sobs before righting herself and wiping her eyes. She took a few shaky breaths.

 _Move away. Now_. And she did just that. People in this pile up might need her help, so she would stay, even if it was reluctantly so. The 32 year old made her way past the next few vehicles, glancing in before hurriedly walking past.

A grunt of pain along with a shout for help caught her attention and she halted, spinning around for the source. A silver SUV was flipped onto its ceiling. Laying within the vehicle a boy hung, suspended from the ceiling. Well, she might not have called him a boy. More of a young man, probably 22-23.

"Hey!" He shouted. His eyes were screwed shut and he didn't seem to be aware that Christina was there. "Anyone!"

Christina jogged over, crouching down by the shattered window. The young man looked up at her with bright eyes. Disheveled sandy blonde hair framed his face oddly because of his upside down positon.

"Thank god," He faintly smiled with gratefulness. "Please. I need you to support my back and help me angle while I fall so that I don't—"

"Create stress near the top of your spine and possibly break your neck," Christina finished, surprising him.

"Are you a doctor?" The man inquired.

She gave a nod.

"Well alright then. Saves me the explanation. Mind giving me a hand?"

Christina readied herself as he brought up his hands to the seatbelt. "3. 2. 1." The seatbelt released with a click and gravity took hold. The young man fell speedily to the ceiling (or was it the floor?) as Christina pushed his head forwards, so he landed on his back firmly.

She backed up, jamming her scalpel into the crumpled exterior door handle and yanking backwards. The door popped open with a loud sharp creak and the young man uncoiled himself, tumbling out of the car.

"Thank you," he said as he stood.

She nodded, focusing her attention back on the school bus down the road. He followed her gaze.

"We should check every car. See if anyone needs help. We'll work our way over there," he offered.

Christina showed a look of unease. "Okay…" she bit out. She turned to him, looking into his youthful blue eyes. "Are you a nurse? Paramedic?"

"EMT," he grinned. "How'd you guess?" He gestured to his outfit. He wore black pants and a white button up short sleeve shirt. The ambulance symbol could be seen on a patch on his sleeve.

"I'm lucky that way," she replied with a small smile.

"Do you have a kid? Is that who you're looking for?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, my son: Richard."

"Charming name. Alright, let's get going."

Christina led the way, but paused.

"What's your name?"

"Cooper Lennox. EMT. Pleasure." He stuck his hand out as they walked. She took it and shook it firmly.

"Christina Bauer. Doctor. Right back at you."

The two made their way through the mass of cars. Corpses dangled out of the cars. Injured people, like she had seen at the hospital, snapped at her as she passed.

"What…what is wrong with them?" Christina asked with furrowed brows. She stopped next to a…whatever it was…trapped under the side of a tipped over truck. It snapped its jaws at her, a large portion of its face and its left eye dangling over the cement.

"Said the doctor," teased Cooper. He trotted over. "I don't know." He said in all seriousness. "From what we figured out in _my_ wing of the hospital, people die, contract the… _illness_ , and then come back."

"Like vampires," Christina offered.

"Sort of. They don't have sharp teeth, but they will eat you."

Christina's eyes widened, "H—have you seen them do that?" she stammered.

A pause. In which the two stared intently at each other, one with shock, the other with a sudden lack of humor.

"Yes."

"What happened here?" she asked, looking around the crash.

He sighed sadly. "They evacuated the schools when the… _things_ …became too much. It was just after the announcement on television. A lot of the kids didn't make it out, the rest were loaded onto busses. Parents, siblings and family members were given 20 minutes to gather whatever they could and follow the busses out. They were being led by a single military vehicle. We _were_ gonna go to the nearest Military Base but…obviously it didn't work out." They both eyed the massive crash. "Some peop—things…got into the road. I think they were all re-killed when they were hit by the cars but, it caused a massive crash. I don't think—"

A loud creak caused Christina to spin around. She watched as a lamppost, suspended by some other electrical wires, fell as the wires snapped. An electric sizzle filled the air as it collapsed with a loud crash onto a horde of cars, sending the cars into angry bellows and blares.

Knowing immediately people could've been hurt, the two medics jumped into a sprint, running over to where the lamppost had fallen.

Christina turned the corner, around a vast semi-truck. Her feet skidded and she nearly fell face first into the gruesome sight that lay ahead of her. A woman was coughing on the ground, her body wracking with the movement.

She clutched a baby in her arms, but the baby was gone. It's skin was pale and it almost looked like half of its head was—Christina gagged, turning away. That wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was that _the woman had been chopped in two_.

And she was still alive.

No, not the illness-alive, actually alive. Breathing, coughing, dying, but for now: she was alive.

Cooper took the first step and Christina followed after a moment. She tried not to think about it as her shoe stepped into a pool of blood forming around the woman. The woman's steel grey eyes crept over to them, dull and barely there. She cracked a smile.

"It's okay. Mommy's got you." She said, staring back up at the blue sky and clouds above. Her auburn hair splayed out around her head and freckles dotted her nose. She was a young mother. No older than 25.

There was a brief moment where Christina didn't think the woman knew she wasn't alone anymore. And then:

"W—why can't—" she broke off coughing. "—w—walk? Mommy's gotta walk."

Christina glanced at the younger man standing in front of her and saw Cooper had halted, biting his lip and looking at the woman sadly, silently crying. With a shaky sigh, Christina walked up to the woman and crouched down next to her. The woman's eyes slowly trailed over to her.

"Is she okay?" asked the woman.

"Is who okay?" it was painful to keep her voice steady.

"Ashlie. My darling Ashlie." The woman coughed, blood spattering her features.

Christina sniffled, taking another deep breath as a tear made a new line on her face. She looked at the baby once more and covered her mouth quickly with her hand. She snapped her gaze back to the lady. "Y—yes. She's fine. You'll see her again soon." She closed her eyes, tears trailing her face.

"G—good," the corners of the woman's mouth twitched upwards. "I don't…want…her…to…worry…" the last word was said at a sluggish pace and when Christina looked back the woman stared up at the sky.

The 32 year old shakily raised her hand. For the first time she noticed Cooper was now crouched down on the other side of the woman. He stopped her hand and closed the woman's eyes himself. "Time of death:" he glanced at his watch. "11:20 AM. Time of death:" his sight flashed to the baby. "11:15 AM."

Christina shuffled back away from the woman, out of her blood, and collapsed onto the dry cement. She screwed her eyes shut again, letting out a series of sobs. When she opened her eyes again she saw Cooper walking around nearby, checking vehicles for survivors. She looked back down at the woman and—

A bloody hand narrowly missed slicing her nose off with broken nails. Christina shouted in surprise as the bloodied face of a woman snapped its jaws at her. Mangled, blood covered auburn hair and dull steel grey eyes with blood shot pulsing lines through the yellowy whites. Without even thinking, Christina's reflexes took over.

One minute she was shouting, her hand at her side.

The next her scalpel was lodged in the side of the woman's head, and her shout had halted.

Christina stared as blood slowly dripped down her hand, past her wrist, and stained her sleeve.

Cooper stared at her from across the mini-clearing. The woman was dead, for real this time…or so she hoped. Christina tugged at the scalpel. When it refused to come free, she tugged again. A sickening crunch sounded and the woman collapsed onto Christina's lap, making her bite back a few more sobs.

The doctor shoved the corpse off of her legs.

Christina got up, brushing herself off wildly with wobbly dirt-dusted hands. This was too much. Too much for one day. The dead was rising. She'd seen a woman chopped in half. She'd seen a baby's head get—never mind. Her son was missing. Cooper didn't say it. She didn't either. Richard wasn't on that bus. The sounds of shouting children would be heard. She heard nothing. Not one giggle. Not one sob. She heard the sounds of car alarms and car horns weighed down by the corpses laid upon them.

She heard nothing human.

No sobs.

No giggles.

No screams.

No—

A snapping cut through the air, startling Christina out of her daze. The snapping belonged to a door being opened harshly or forcefully.

"Cooper?!" Christina demanded loudly.

"Over here!" A hand poked around the side of a large bus. Christina raced over, swerving around the bus.

On the other side sat a black mustang, one of the newer police vehicles. The entire front of the car had been reduced to a crumbling mass of jagged metal. Windshield glass sprayed out across the front of the car and into the front seats. The windows had mostly shattered on the bus and—much to Christina's horror—infected people were gathered at the windows inside the bus, hands slamming into the window frames and what remained of the glass. Their skin tore off in shreds, slicing off on the jagged holes in the glass. The entire side of the bus was dented inwards. The car appeared to have rammed head on into the side of the bus, turned and then slammed into it again, this time with its left side. The vehicle bounced back, leaving only a small gap between the side of the mustang and the infected people clawing at the window.

Cooper was struggling to free a tall Caucasian man with messy short brown hair from the front seat of the car. The EMT had ducked down, avoiding swipes the infected took at his head. The man looked slightly stunned, but for the most part okay. He did have a small slice on his left bicep, which Christina made a note to check for infection later.

"Bloody 'ell," the man said as Cooper finally managed to untangle him from the wreck.

He stumbled backwards a bit, narrowly missing an infected's claws, and then roughly halted. He began yanking on the door handle of the back doors. After a minute he peered over his shoulder at Cooper and Christina, "Oi, I'm not doing this for the laughs."

Christina caught the hint and jogged over to help him.

After a quick look at her weapon, she pocketed the scalpel and picked up a large shard of scrap metal off of the ground. Jamming it into the crack of the door, she shoved down harshly. Cooper grabbed another piece of scrap and repeated Christina's method.

With a loud 'pop', the door unlocked. It sent Cooper and the man to the pavement while Christina's arm scraped on the door and her entire front battered into the side of the car.

Cooper was back on his feet almost instantly, giving the man a hand up as well. Christina took a second before regaining her composure. The man ducked his head into backseats. Christina gazed in over his right shoulder. Her brows furrowed in concern and her eyes narrowed along with them.

Awaiting them inside the vehicle were two young Asian men.

Both were younger than Cooper, late teens Christina assumed. They were situated on either sides of the backseats. The first, the one closest to the man and Cooper had olivey skin, choppy black hair and widened brown eyes that were filled with panic. He wore a hooded gray sweatshirt and jeans. A long gash trailed down the right side of his face. He couldn't have been older than 16 or 17.

"Holy crap. Get them out of there!" Cooper urged, already trying to shove his way past the man.

Christina took action. Cooper had already begun to help get the teenager out of the backseats. Seeing that he had it covered for now, Christina ran around to the other side of the mustang. This side was more intact, and—after a jab from her scalpel—the door popped open easily.

The doctor assessed the damage.

A boy of maybe 18 or 19 lay before her. He was also Asian and Christina guessed the two were related. He had a mop of blackish brown hair upon his head, reaching just above his ears. He shared his (probable) brother's olivey complexion and face shape. He wore a navy blue t-shirt and a pair of dark denim jeans. Christina tried to ignore the handcuffs that dug greedily into his bleeding wrists. He was unconscious, most likely since impact.

As carefully as she could, she unbuckled the seatbelt that held the boy captive and grabbed him under the arms, pulling him gently out of the car and onto the pavement. The bus creaked and the infected grew louder.

Christina ignored them, kneeling down next to the boy. She went over the basics.

Pulse: She took it. A little slow, probably from his unconscious state.

Any problems with breathing: Slight delay, again from unconsciousness.

Any visual problems: The handcuffs were digging into his wrists, slicing them open.

Problem A. She stood up.

"Cooper!" she called over the top of the mustang.

"What?!" came the stressed reply.

"I need those bandages!"

"Alright, alright! Give me a minute! You!"

Christina assumed he was talking to the supposed police officer.

"Back pocket!" Cooper ordered.

The sound of unzipping could barely be heard over the noises of the infected. Christina's eyes widened in surprise as a roll of bandages was flung over the car at her face.

"Got 'em?" came the police officer's voice.

"Yes!" she answered, kneeling back down and quickly unwinding the bandages. She removed her sweatshirt, using the scalpel to tear the stitches before ripping off a rather large piece of the sleeve.

It was tricky to get around the handcuffs but she didn't have a way to remove them, so she did her best. After the bleeding had been momentarily staunched, the bandages arrived. Around, and around, and around, she wrapped the bandages, until it looked like the boy had two white cuff bracelets on.

She double checked his pulse before shouting, "How's our second patient?!"

"Not so good!" came the reply.

"Diagnosis!" cawed Christina, standing up.

"His pulse is unsteady, his breathing is hitched and I think he might have internal bleeding!"

Christina looked back down at the unconscious Asian at her feet. He didn't have bruising, no internal bleeding. His pulse was steady, his breathing was fine. _He should be okay for movement_ , she decided. Hoisting under his arms, Christina carefully dragged him around the other side of the car.

"Blimey," the British officer smirked. "A lot stronger than you look."

"Don't judge a book by its cover," Christina threw back.

Blood at created an impressive puddle around the younger Asian's head. The crimson also oozed out from under the Asian's shirt, but the nameless man was pressing a wad of cloth to it. The boy was whimpering, still unfortunately concious. Cooper threw nervous, stressed glances at him every few seconds. The Asian flinched and whimpered, obviously concerning Cooper more and more.

Seeing the problem, Christina took position by the top of the Asian's head.

"Hey, hey, hey, shh, it's okay," Christina soothed in a quiet voice. She cupped the boy's cheek in her hand gently. The boy let out a raspy breath, his eyes dragging upwards to meet hers. "What's your name?" she asked quietly.

He spoke with a small voice coated with an Asian accent. The type you received when English wasn't your first language. "Y—Yeon J—Jun Pae—" He broke off with a few rugged coughs, weakly attempting to lift his arm and grab at the bleeding wound Nameless Brit was still pressing down on. "P—Paek." He finished.

"Yeon?" Christina gave a small smile and the boy nodded, really just a slight twitch of the head. Seeing as the Asian's eyes began trailing back to the blood, Christina continued speaking quickly. One of the first things she'd learned: keep the patient calm. "Who was in the car with you, Yeon?" she asked carefully. "Is he your brother?"

Another feeble nod, and then a wince. "K—Ki-M—Min."

"Ki-Min?" she reasserted, receiving only a blink of agreement.

She looked warily at Cooper. Sweat beaded the young blonde's head, and his hands faintly shook as he continued tending the head injury and stomach injury.

"Wh—Who a—are you?" Yeon choked out, a thin line of blood had begun to trail down his cheek from the corner of his lips.

"My name is Christina, I'm a doctor," confirmed Christina with a smile, she stroked Yeon's cheek with her thumb. "This is Cooper, he's a doctor too. And that's—"

"Oliver," supplemented the recently nameless Brit. "Police."

"A—are w—we g—going t—to a hos—hospital?" asked Yeon with a creased brow.

"We…" unsure how to finish, the doctor didn't end the sentence. Fear began building behind Yeon's eyes. "Yes." Christina uttered quietly. "Just try to stay calm for me, okay?"

Yeon didn't respond this time, letting out quickened, hitched, sobbing breaths.

" _A—apa_ ," the boy stammered. Christina's eyes trailed to the two men before her.

"What's that?" she asked, after receiving no answer from Cooper and a shrug from Oliver.

" _A—apa_ ," Yeon repeated with a cough that drizzled blood on his cheeks.

"Sounds like…umm….Korean, maybe?" Cooper offered, not really paying much attention to the conversation. He lifted a hand as he spoke, biting down on a suture needle because of the lack of hands. He threaded it quickly and Christina turned back to Yeon.

"What does that—"

She stopped mid-sentence. The boy's breathing had ceased. Cooper was still preparing to sew closed the wound, but Oliver had caught on and was removing his hands.

Cooper looked up at him harshly. "What're you—" His gaze softened when it landed on Yeon. "Oh." He fell back onto his butt from his previous position balanced on the balls of his feet.

"Y—Yeon?"

Christina looked up with raised eyebrows.

* * *

 **PLEASE READ:**

 **Ta da! First chapter in the bag! YEA! And we finished at a total of…*drum roll* 4,814 words! Yea! Anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. I know it wasn't the best cliffhanger but I hope the action was satisfactory. The next chapter should equal that much action (if not top it) or so I hope.**

 **Let me know what you think of these characters you've met so far. I know in the original you met Mason, Michael, Duskin and Cypress but in this new version I've decided to wait a bit on them. Let's get this story set up the right way.**

 **So, if you didn't guess it already, Christina's gonna hold a lot of POVs. It's not that I don't love all of your characters, it's just that she is a good solid character that seemed to interact with every character differently. ALL OF YOUR CHARACTERS WILL STILL BE IN AND NONE OF THEM WILL BE UNDERMINED. Promise.**

 **Oh, and ps, Sorry if the Korean was wrong. The powers of google translate aren't always correct. While I have Asian heritage, I never learned Korean, so I don't know the language quite well. The translation for** _ **apa**_ **was** _ **hurts**_ **. Yea, sad, I know.**

 **Let me know what you thought of our first series of deaths! We have all those guys at the hospital, Mystery Woman, and poor sweet little Yeon!**

 **Credit for Christina goes to** _ **Captainjf**_

 **Credit for Cooper goes to** _ **motordog**_

 **Credit for Oliver goes to** _ **Elianora Annora**_

 **Credit for Ki-Min and Yeon goes to yours truly.**

 **Credit for everybody else goes to your truly.**

 **Who was your favs? Fav characters? Scenes? Colors? Whatevs. :)**

 **The next chapter will be up SOON! Much shorter than this one took hopefully.**

 **I have a blog now! The link is:**

 **lifeaswed0ntkn0wit. blogspot . ca (no spaces)**

 **From now on any character introduced will be put up on the blog. Along with that comes locations, towns, cities, the whole thing!**

 **PM me any questions and drop a review if you've got time. :)**

 **Sincerely,**

 **AsgardianGrizzly**


	3. New Faces

Chapter 2-

 **Annnnnnd I'm back! YEAH! :D**

 **Thank you all for your lovely feedback! I appreciate it! So, let's check in with our** _ **Brown Street**_ **Group shall we? Hmm, yes we shall. Alrighty! Let's get to it.**

 **On the break that I took I thought a lot about what I wanted to do with this story. Firstly, I had a major problem with saying no to characters, which was putting a dent in the storyline. As of right now, I've REMOVED TWO CHARACTERS FROM THE STORY. I'm super sorry if they're yours but I can only have so many and these just didn't work into the story well.**

 **MASON DIAZ and DUSKIN DERN**

 **have been removed and (as of right now) will not be brought into the storyline.**

 **Alright, that said, I think I've worked out how I'm going to do this and I'm going to work really hard to keep this going over the summer (fingers crossed).**

 **Ps. Forgot the disclaimer last chapter: I don't own any characters, the Walking Dead or any Walking Dead references.**

 **Warning: Strong language. Not too bad. Just a couple f-words.**

 _Brown Street – Sheris, Wisconsin_

Christina's eyes fell upon the second Asian boy, who was lying on his back a few feet away.

"Y—Yeon—" he let out a shaky breath. He shared practically the same voice as his sibling, only slightly deeper, but with the same Asian accent. His thin brown eyes fell upon his brother's still form and they widened quickly. "Yeon." he stated it not as a question, as a declaration. It was his brother, he was dead, and Ki-Min knew it.

Christina watched as Ki-Min sat up with a cringe. He managed to get to his feet and began slowly staggering over to the corpse, Christina, Oliver and Cooper. Cooper didn't look up as Ki-Min approached, knees up to his chest as he stared off into something very far away. Oliver kept a close eye on the Asian, holding his sarcastic tongue. Christina simply gazed up at him, his brother's head in her lap, her hand still on his cheek.

Ki-Min pressed his lips together firmly, blinking furiously and balling his hands into fists. He didn't move from where he stood above his brother. He just stood stone still and stared—no, glared, at Yeon. His bottom lip quivered and he choked out a sob, tears running down his cheeks.

Ki-Min's eyes trailed blearily from the head wound to the torso wound on Yeon's body. His hands shook and he looked torn between passing out and having a panic attack. Christina stood up slowly, remembering her training. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Cooper matched her movements, slowly regaining his bearings.

Oliver pulled off his jacket, placing it over Yeon's upper body and face. Ki-Min's hands shook harder, the cuffs drawing blood. Christina took a step forwards, preparing herself for the challenging conversation of calming the teenager down.

It was, of course, at that moment that Oliver decided to make a terrible mistake. He walked forwards, gun drawn from under his waistband, and shot a hole into Yeon's head. The noise vibrated through Christina's eardrums. She blinked slowly, drawing her eyes first to Cooper, checking if he was okay. He looked alright. Then to Oliver, who still had the gun pointed at Yeon's head. And finally to Ki-Min, who looked stunned. His muscles went lax and his eyes almost seemed to fog over.

There was a tense silence as the group waited for their ears to stop ringing.

"I—I need to get to that school bus," stated Christina eventually. Cooper and Oliver looked over to her. "My son." She explained, sharing a gaze with Oliver. He understood, but didn't holster his gun.

Cooper gently set a hand on Ki-Min's back, leading him away from Yeon's corpse. The teen appeared unresponsive, walking mechanically and without thought, his eyes dazed and lost.

"Wait," Oliver ordered. He ran around to the back of the Mustang and swiped his keys from his jeans pocket. Unlocking the trunk, he opened a black case that lay inside and swiftly assembled a low power rifle. He offered it to Christina and she took it reluctantly. She'd used guns before, she knew how they worked, but it didn't make her any more comfortable while using them.

However, Christina took point. She held the large weapon up defensively, keeping watch for the Infected. Cooper and Ki-Min stayed in the middle while Oliver defended the rear of the group, pistol drawn.

Whether it was the tense silence, or the threat of possible death, the group moved quickly towards the bus. They veered around cars, passing corpses and staining their shoes red. They were ten feet away now, and Christina picked up the pace.

"Hands in the air!"

Christina stumbled before halting, flashing her gaze around. She watched as three people, two men and a woman, emerged from behind a…well, Christina assumed it used to be a convertible. Two of the people wore beige military uniforms, much like the apparel Christina had seen back at the hospital, and the final was dressed in a black bomber jacket and cargo pants. They also wore black and red bandana cloth masks over the lower half of their faces. Christina assumed it was an attempt to block the infection.

The woman had choppy short red hair. She was a good inch taller than Christina, with dark narrowed green eyes and pale skin. The two men were broader, with the strong masses of a bull. The first had short dark brown hair and strong features. He owned unreadable dark mud-colored eyes and his biceps were tensed in case of possible threat. The final man was roughly the same age as the first two, 21-23. He had buzz cut blonde hair and what could have been welcoming eyes if not for the blood that spattered his face. The other two shared the same war paint, crimson and ruby colors smeared and drizzled along their features.

The woman pointed a military combat rifle at Christina's head while the brown haired man aimed two Glock 17s at Oliver and Cooper, and the blonde pointed what looked like a police-issue Glock at Ki-Min.

"Put your hands above your fucking heads!"

The woman growled, jerking her rifle at them. Christina allowed her own rifle to fall across her side via shoulder strap, and skyrocketed her hands. Cooper followed more reluctantly, quietly urging Ki-Min to do the same. Oliver disagreed, keeping his gun trailed on the blonde man's head.

"Come on man, put your hands up," the blonde sighed, sternly yet with a tone suggesting he only wanted what was best for Oliver.

Oliver readjusted his grip on the gun. "What're you lot, then? Military by the looks of it, yeah?"

"You police?" the woman demanded, directing the question to Oliver, Cooper and Christina rather than her group.

Oliver lowered one hand, pulling back the flap of his jacket to reveal a shiny gold badge at his belt. "Oliver Mikaelson, SCPD," announced Oliver, a stern look upon his face and a smirk peeking out.

"Cooper Lennox, EMT," added Cooper, he stepped away from Ki-Min and gently set a hand on Oliver's gun, lightly pushing it down. Oliver glared but holstered his gun. The woman kept her weapon up for another few moments before lowering it. She snapped up her hand, palm open and arm bent at a 90 degree angle, a signal for them to stop. They reluctantly holstered their weapons.

"Colonel Layla Keith," the redhead gave a small salute, pulling down her mask to speak, before gesturing to the men behind her. "This is Private Owen Darsh," she introduced, jerking her thumb over her shoulder at the blonde, who in turn lowered his mask. "And that—" the brute of a brown haired man, "—is Mathew Winters. He might not be military but he sure as hell should be." Mathew gave a stiff nod, removing his mask.

Christina let some of the tension leave her muscles, "I'm Christina, Christina Bauer. Cooper and Oliver," she reiterated, pointing at them respectively. "And that's Ki-Min."

Mathew eyed up the handcuffs silently. Layla readjusted the rifle on her shoulder. Owen's eyes flashed between Christina and Layla. Oliver casually set a hand on the gun at his belt. Cooper set a hand on his EMT bag strap and blithely stepped in front of Ki-Min, who continued to stare down at the pavement.

Christina spoke up quickly, trying to help the stiffness calm back down. "We're trying to get to that school bus," she nodded at it and the three newcomers turned their heads to look, all except Mathew, who held his gaze defensively, as if expecting attack. "I think my son is there."

"Right," Layla nodded sharply. "Let's go get your boy then, shall we?"

 _ **~TWD~TWD~TWD~**_

 _Brown Street – Sheris, Wisconsin_

They reached the bus in minutes after jogging the last ten feet.

Without thinking, Christina ran up to the bus doors and into the bus. The smell of rot and blood hit her like a cement wall, causing her to recoil. Blood covered the walls of the bus, young corpses were strewn about the chairs. Christina gasped, regretting it as the metallic tang of blood filled her mouth. She gagged, retreating out of the doors and tumbling into Owen.

Owen caught her easily, steadying her and grabbing her shoulders as she tried not to puke onto his uniform.

"Hey, woah, calm down, deep breaths," Owen aided, giving her a reassuring pat on the back.

She took a few steadying breaths and looked up as Layla prepared to enter. "Wait, don't there's—"

Layla stuck her hand up, raising her gun and shushing Christina. Christina silenced, listening carefully. A child Infected dragged itself out from under the bus, broken legs of no use. Its ribcage was exposed, scraping against the concrete and making Christina dizzy with nausea.

Owen stared. Layla knit her brows. Mathew glared. Oliver let out what could almost be considered a grimace. Cooper looked away. Ki-Min glanced up a bit before zoning back out.

Layla stepped forwards, pulling out a knife, pausing and then jamming it into the top of the Infected Child's head. She slumped to the ground. Christina didn't look.

"R—Richard?" she asked after a moment of silence. No response came. "Richard? Honey, it's me!" she tried.

"Ms.…Ms. Bauer?" came a reply.

Christina perked up, disregarding the curious looks she received from everyone else. "Abigail?" she cawed uncertainly.

A young teenage girl of 13 poked her head around the doorway to the bus. Her long brown hair hung loosely down to just under her chest. Worried brown eyes drizzled with fear blinked at her. She wore a dirtied white sweater and a pair of black leggings. Behind the girl trailed a smaller girl with matching brown hair, she couldn't have been older than 4. A hockey stick was clutched in Abigail's free hand.

"Abigail? Beverly?" Christina clarified, she walked purposefully up to the bus doors and helped them down. "Are you alright? Have you seen Richard? Is he in there? Where were you? Where's your parents? Where's Kimberly?" she demanded, bombarding them with questions.

Abigail's eyebrows shot up, "Oh—um, yea, we're okay Ms. B. No…uh…no, Richard's not in there…" her eyes saddened. "My mom and Kimberly aren't here anymore…" she bit her lip, took a shaky breath and then looked up quickly with bright eyes. "Wait, have you seen my dad?! Is he back at the hospital? Can we go there?!" she asked excitedly. Beverly blinked up anxiously at Christina.

Their father. Ethan James. A wise man who was a brilliant doctor. "N—no. He's not at the hospital, honey." He had been the man she had seen shot in the abandoned hallway. The one the soldiers had killed. "I think I saw him get out." She added quickly, earning an excited glint from Beverly and Abigail.

"Are there any others?" Layla inquired.

Abigail's eyes widened, "Oh! Yes! She's—"

" _Hyeongje?_ "

Christina saw as another girl appeared at the doors. She was younger, maybe 10 or 11. Asian, probably Korean like Ki-Min. She was dressed in black leggings with white polka dots, a black t-shirt and a beige long jacket. She-now that Christina realized it, she looked a _lot_ like Ki-Min…

" _Naneun dangsin-eul balgyeon!_ " the girl's thin brown eyes livened and she leapt from the bus entrance, running at Ki-Min full sprint before lunging at him and wrapping her small arms around his lower torso. He didn't hug back. She beamed at him. The rest of the group looked at him, awaiting an answer.

Instead Ki-Min gave a small smile and ruffled her hair with his hand, bringing his other hand with due to the handcuffs. Speaking afterwards, " _Annyeonghaseyo jamae._ "

Oliver looked at Christina, who shrugged. The officer turned to Cooper, who looked unsure. He glanced at Layla, Owen and Mathew. Layla looked impatient, Owen appeared intrigued and Mathew didn't seem to be paying attention, rather scanning the area. "Care to explain, Kung Pao?" Oliver prodded. No response from Ki-Min, who was still looking at the girl.

"Umm…Mr.?" Abigail chirped, earning looks from the entire group, specifically the girl and Ki-Min. "Is Dae your sister?" she asked.

Ki-Min looked down at the girl (Dae?) and then back at Abigail. "She told you her name?" he asked, throat a bit raspy from lack of speech and crying.

"Well…no…but I figured it out…" shrugged Abigail.

Ki-Min raised his eyebrows and looked back at Dae as she tugged his t-shirt.

" _Yeon?_ " she asked cheerfully.

Ki-Min froze.

Christina looked anxiously between them as Dae awaited a response.

She hated to lie to the girl but reluctantly began to.

"Yeon—"

"Is somewhere safe," Owen cut in. "Don't worry." He gave a reassuring smile.

Dae seemed to trust him and smiled back, hopping a bit from innocent excitement. " _Joh-eun soli!_ " she cheeped.

"Doesn't she speak bloody English?" Oliver growled in an aggravated manor. "I don't happen to have my English to Korean Dictionary handy!" he added sarcastically.

"No, she doesn't do well with American language," Ki-Min informed with a slight uneasiness. "Just Korean for now. I can translate for her if needed."

Christina sighed sadly, tapping the tips of her fingers on her palms. Dae suddenly yelped, ducking behind Ki-Min. Christina spun around as Beverly whimpered. Three Dead Ones were staggering towards the group. Oliver tensed up.

"Shit," the police cursed grimly.

"What?" Layla demanded.

"They didn't make it…" muttered Oliver.

"Who?" Mathew growled.

"Do you know them?" added Owen.

Oliver let out a long shaky sigh, running both hands through his hair and keeping them on the back of his head, fingers grasping the brown hair. "It's my mum and dad."

"What about that one?" asked Cooper, gesturing to the third Infected.

"Some sodden Walgreens employee. I don't _know_ ," Oliver snapped back, as if it was obvious that he didn't know it. Mathew glared before firing a shot into the unknown Infected's head.

"We can outrun them…we don't have to kill them," offered Christina, eyeing up the approaching pair. Oliver just sighed, closing his eyes.

Mathew whipped out his Glock and shot twice. The couple collapsed. Oliver stared at them in shock before turning to Mathew.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?!" snarled Oliver. "That's my parents!"

"Like I give a shit. They're already dead," Mathew responded sternly, tucking his gun away.

"Doesn't mean you put two in their heads!" shouted Oliver, stepping towards Mathew.

"They were _already dead_ ," bit out Mathew, enunciating each word. He inched closer to Oliver.

"How do you know? For all you know they could've been _sick!_ "

"Did you _see_ them?! Your mom was missing the left side of her face! Your dad was even worse off!"

"So you shot them?!"

"What would you have done?!"

"Helped them!"

"You're kidding right? You've seen what they've done, haven't you?!"

"Of course! But that's my _parents!_ "

"And?!"

"Hey!" Oliver and Mathew turned sharply to Layla. "Shut the hell up! You're gonna attract more of them."

"We've got to get it together," agreed Owen. "Let's look for survivors? Try to _help_?" he recommended, glaring at Oliver and Mathew like a mother looking disappointedly at a child.

Mathew snorted and Oliver rolled his eyes. "Fine." They said in unison.

"Doctor," Layla pointed at Christina, "You're with me. Union Jack, go with Darsh." She nodded at Oliver, and then to Owen. "Winters, go with the Asian. Gay Nurse you—"

"How'd you know I was gay?" Cooper interrupted with raised eyebrows.

"It's not that hard. I saw you go checking out Mattie's biceps," Layla stated, Cooper flushed red and Mathew cocked an eyebrow. "Like I was saying, Gay Nurse will stay with the kids. Between your probable PhD and your absolutely ridiculous people skills, I'm sure you can handle it."

Christina glanced curiously over to Cooper who shrugged as if to say 'well, yea, I should hope so.'

"Meet back here in 45 minutes."

 _ **~TWD~TWD~TWD~**_

 _Brown Street – Sheris, Wisconsin_

 _ **Owen & Oliver**_

"You know," Oliver began after the previous 15 minutes of silent walking and searching. "I actually _thought_ that we were saved." He looked over to Owen, who raised an eyebrow. "And then you and your friends showed your sorry arses and I knew we weren't."

Instead of arguing, Owen responded with, "What gave it away?"

Oliver seemed briefly confused by his agreement. "You didn't have a team, or any buggin artillery."

"Guess we'll have to keep that in mind next time," Owen nodded, peering over at the abandoned cars. An Infected man stumbled out, clawing the air. Owen glanced at it but didn't kill it until it got to a dangerous closeness. He then jammed an expensive looking pocket knife up into the base of its chin.

"Next time?" Oliver's eyebrow shot up, "You're gonna do that again? Why?"

"Think about it," Owen replied, walking back over, "If we can collect enough survivors, it won't be that hard to survive. We'll save as many as we can."

"And what about the bad ones?"

"Bad ones?"

"Well they all can't be angels, can they?"

"No…"

"So what happens to those blokes?"

"They die, I guess…"

Oliver stared at Owen, trying to get a read on him. His eyes fell upon the police issue Glock in the blonde's hands, it matched his own. He decided to ask about it.

"Where'd you get the gun?"

"What?"

"The gun."

"Oh."

"Yea. Where'd you get it?"

"An officer."

"He just handed you his only weapon?" Oliver demanded skeptically. "In the middle of the bloody apocalypse?"

"He was dead."

"You stole his gun?"

"Wouldn't you have?"

"…No."

"That's a lie."

"See if I care."

Owen looked back over to Oliver, returning the 'who the hell is this guy?' face he'd received earlier, and then speaking.

"Do you have any other family?" Owen asked, Oliver's Infected Parents flashing in his mind.

Oliver didn't respond for a few minutes. "Yea." He finally sighed. "My brother. Thomas. He's 18. He was at school when all this happened."

Owen nodded, he made a note to ask around if they ran into anyone from the school in the future.

"What about you?" Oliver inquired without looking over.

"My parents and my sister."

"Are they here?"

"No. I live up in Eau Claire."

"All the way up there? What were you doing in Sheris?"

"I wasn't doing anything. I was in Kenosha."

"Military training?"

A nod. "I was heading back there when everything happened. I decided to stay here for the night. It's been a week."

"Why haven't you left?"

"The roads are all blocked," responded Owen, nodding off to the left. "You know how it happened, right?"

Oliver nodded once. It had been a mad house. The Police Force had been on the inside loop, they knew what to do if they found Infected. Everyone was given a gun, even Forensic Scientists like himself. To the public this had all broken out a week ago. To the Police and Military, this had broken out five long months ago.

Week 1 had been the discovering stages. No one knew how bad it was. The first month was mysterious deaths popping up and no one knew why. Month 2 ended with the realization that the dead were rising. Month 3 was the discovery that they could only be killed if shot in the head, and if you were bitten you were a goner. Month 4 public notices were given that there was a virus going around, and to avoid Infected at all costs. Month 5 and mass evacuations of major cities started. At the beginning of Month 6, current time, people had started leaving Sheris to go to family members. The highways had clogged. Many people had started walking, abandoning cars. The virus had broken out amongst them, or they'd been caught by Infected. Death filled the streets. Empty cars stood wherever there was space.

"Do you trust them?" Owen asked Oliver.

"Who?" he responded, he jerked his head back the way they came. "Them?" Owen nodded. "I couldn't say for sure. I only met 'em an hour ago."

"And if we had to…cross them off? Would we be able to?" inquired Owen darkly.

Oliver stared at him. He looked Owen dead in the eyes.

"Yea."

 _ **~TWD~TWD~TWD~**_

 _Brown Street – Sheris, Wisconsin_

 _ **Layla & Christina**_

"So, judging by your Grey's Anatomy get-up, I'm assuming you're a doctor," announced Layla with a stern look.

"Huh?" Christina blinked, glancing up at the other woman and then nodding. "Oh, yea. Or…I was before all of…" she paused, unsure of what to say. "… _this_."

Layla looked her over, making her feel a little uncomfortable. Christina shouldered the rifle that Oliver had given to her. The weight of it wasn't foreign, she'd hunted with her father, but it was… _unusual_. She'd never used it for these purposes.

"How many have you killed?" Layla asked suddenly.

"What?"

"How many Dead Ones have you killed?"

Christina answered without pause, "One."

Layla stared at her, "One?" she practically growled.

Christina nodded meekly.

Layla suddenly reached over and grabbed her rifle, spinning and shooting twice.

"Stop!" She shouted angrily.

Christina gaped, hands covering her head.

She spun to find two teenagers, terror obvious in their wide eyes. A boy with thick copper hair clutched a baseball bat tightly, knuckles white. He was nearly 6ft and tanned nicely, younger than 18. Behind him a girl no older than 16, with messy blonde hair and a screwdriver held out defensively, hid from the gunfire.

"We're friendlies!" the boy shouted, still staring at where Layla had cracked the concrete moments ago.

"Yea?!" Layla demanded. She held up her gun a bit higher. "Prove it!"

"Layla," Christina stared at her companion in shock. "They're _kids_."

"So?" Layla spat.

Christina gaped, expression turning to anger. She walked forwards purposefully, slinging her rifle over her shoulder. Immediately, her medical instincts kicked in.

"Are you okay?" she pulled at the boy's coat. "Are you injured?" she coaxed the girl from behind him.

"No ma'am," replied the girl politely, fear still evident in her tone. She stepped out from behind the boy as he lowered his bat, hazel eyes wide.

"My name is Christina Bauer. I'm a doctor," Christina said gently, giving a light smile. "My friend—" Layla scoffed behind her. "Is Layla Keith, a Colonel for the army."

The boy nodded once, seemingly on edge but trying hard to trust. "Cypress Osman." He held out his hand and Christina shook it, thankful for his trust. "This is Tarissa Langley…" Christina put a comforting hand on Tarissa's shoulder. "We came from the, um, the High School? Down the road?"

Christina nodded once in understanding. "Is it overrun?" she asked curiously.

Tarissa looked to the floor and Cypress nodded. "Yea. It's gone." Tarissa said quietly.

"What is this?" Cypress gestured around them.

"What? This?" Layla barked a laugh, running a hand through her ragged red hair. "It's a sickness. It's a fuckin' _disease_. Everyone's infected. Once you die, you come back. It's like Heaven filled up and now we're stuck down here." She chuckled, turning and beginning down the road.

Christina watched as Cypress tensed at Layla's words, eyebrows furrowing as he thumbed the cross around his neck and pondered it silently. "God wouldn't do that." He announced after a second.

"Religious, huh?" Layla returned almost immediately, turning and walking backwards as Christina, Cypress and Tarissa followed after her. "Yea, me too. Well, I used to be. That is," she turned back forwards. "Until God decided to have one of his undead soldiers take my husband from me."

Christina watched as every muscle in Layla's back contracted with anger.

" _God_ tried to make me shoot him in the head," she snapped angrily. Tarissa looked up with pity. "I didn't, and he almost ripped off my arm with his teeth." Layla growled, taking a breath and sighing. "That's when Owen stepped in."

"When did you meet Mathew?" Christina asked, seeing opportunity and taking it.

"Winters?" Layla raised an eyebrow. "Later on down the road. He snatched us from an alley. Saved our lives. Guy's a professional at runnin' across buildings." She chuckled. "Enough about me. Who're you?"

Christina looked to Cypress and Tarissa.

"My dad didn't think anything was wrong…" Cypress said reluctantly. "So I went to school like normal. Obviously, something _was_ wrong. My parents are dead…" he sighed sadly. "I don't know where my brothers are. I think they were pulled onto a rescue bus…" he pressed his lips together.

Tarissa squeezed his arm, having kept close to his side as they walked. "My parents were doubtful too…" she frowned. "Dad died protecting Val—my sister…but…There was a horde at her school a few days ago and…" She looked at the road as they walked. "Mom found my dad's shotgun two days later and…well…she…" Tarissa grimaced. "My youngest siblings, Harry and Beatrix…I'm not sure where they are…The rescue bus said they'd take them up to my uncle's but…Well…anyways…after that, Cypress found me at school."

"She was holed up in the gym," Cypress nodded. "That was yesterday. We stayed on the roof of the school overnight."

Tarissa turned to Christina hopefully. "What about you? Any family?"

"That's the hope…" Christina sighed. She looked up sternly. "We're looking for my son, Richard. He's six." She pretended not to notice the fear in the teens' eyes. "He's at school." She announced solemnly.

Layla looked at her with something that rivaled understanding.

"And we're going to get him." She promised.

 _ **~TWD~TWD~TWD~**_

 _Brown Street – Sheris, Wisconsin_

 _ **Mathew & Ki-Min**_

"Why do you have handcuffs on?" Mathew asked gruffly.

The Asian looked up at the man, who was a good four inches taller than he was.

"Fashion statement," he replied sarcastically.

"You realize there are currently no laws stopping me from killing you, right?" Mathew asked in all seriousness, dark eyes looking down at Ki-Min like cat to prey.

"It was a joke," answered Ki-Min in a bored tone, holding his hands up. When Mathew looked ready to pounce, he continued. "Besides, I doubt I could take you _without_ the handcuffs, I'm pretty sure you've got nothing to worry about while I'm in them."

Mathew barked out a laugh and Ki-Min snapped his gaze back to the man with surprise and a dash of terror. It could easily be compared to if you had met the devil, and he suddenly started dancing around the room. "Well, you're right about that," scoffed the almost-soldier. Ki-Min subtly stepped away from him.

" _So_ …" the Asian began after a long silence. "If you weren't a _soldier_ , what _did_ you do before all of this?"

Mathew took another look at Ki-Min's handcuffs, eyeing him up and down. It made Ki-Min feel naked, like Mathew could see right through him and straight into his soul.

"Free-running instructor," he finally announced.

"Like parkour?" Ki-Min was the one to look the other over this time. He glanced at the muscular build and Mathew nodded. "Mhm." Ki-Min nodded back. "That's what I thought."

Mathew snorted. "As if."

"It's true," argued Ki-Min defensively. He leaned in a bit towards Mathew and ignored when Mathew tensed. Ki-Min tapped the side of his own head with his hands. "I'm psychic. I know stuff." He snickered.

Mathew rolled his eyes and scanned the area.

The muscular man stopped in his tracks suddenly, staring in horror down the road.

"Good God."

Ki-Min followed his gaze, eyes widening. "Holy shit…"

None of them had noticed either of the men. Low moans filled the road, and it was some sort of twisted miracle that they hadn't heard them earlier. A pack of at least thirty undead were gathered in the street, tearing into something that neither man could see.

Ki-Min swallowed hard.

"What do we—"

Mathew silenced him with the shake of his head, pulling his gun from his back. "Run."

Ki-Min's eyes widened in alarm, the first infected taking noticed of them. His breath accelerated quickly. Mathew raised his gun. Another infected turned. All at once they seemed to smell their visitors. A series of scream-like growls released from the infected people.

"Run!" Mathew shouted, firing into the group quickly before turning and sprinting.

Ki-Min was gone like a rocket, handcuffed hands making running awkward.

"Shit!" Ki-Min shouted again. "We have to get back to my sister!"

"Back to the others!" Mathew shouted in agreement, not daring to look back.

The infected apparently couldn't run, but they were in no-way slow. They didn't get tired. They didn't get winded.

"Do you think there were other hordes?!" Ki-Min demanded, leaping around a car.

"Just run!" Mathew shouted.

And he did.

 _ **~TWD~TWD~TWD~**_

 _Brown Street – Sheris, Wisconsin_

 _ **Cooper and the Kids**_

"So…" Cooper sighed. "Um…what's your names again?" He looked to the Korean girl staring back at him curiously. "Dae? Right?"

She giggled and looked at the other girl.

"Yes," the other girl smiled. She brushed a long strand of hair from her eyes. "That's Dae." She pointed to herself. "I'm Abigail." Abigail pointed to the other little girl at their side. "And this is Beverly."

"Dae, Abigail, Beverly," Cooper ran a hand through his sandy blonde hair. _You can do this_. He had zero experience with children but that didn't mean he didn't love them. Already, the three girls had become siblings in his mind: keep them safe. That was his biggest priority.

"You guys remind me of my sister," he announced, picking up one of the dolls the girls were playing with and admiring it thoughtfully. The girls looked up with wide eyes.

"You have a sister?" Abigail tilted her head. She said she was 13, but she was definitely smart for her age. "Is she…?"

"Her name is Grace," nodded Cooper. "She's in Delaware with the rest of my family." He sighed, looking down the road.

"Oh," said Abigail quietly.

Dae looked at him sadly, and Beverly furrowed her brows, as if she didn't quite understand. After all, Dae was only eleven, and Beverly was a mere four. They were all uninjured, which was a miracle.

The girls turned back to the dolls that he'd found in an abandoned backpack on the road, he didn't dare think about where the kid was. Instead, he pulled off his backpack and sifted through the objects inside. He tried not to wince at the medium sized case inside of his backpack. It was similar in shape to a pencil case, but as he unzipped it a slight chill met his hands. The tiny cooling packet was filled with a series of small bottles. Enough to last a month at most. Each bottle read one word in large letters:

 **Insulin**

Two syringes rested on top of the bottles. Two. If one of them were to break, he was screwed.

Cooper pulled a bottle and glanced at the girls to make sure they weren't looking. He emptied one small bottle, an even dose, and carefully pinched a section of his skin, just above his waistline. He injected the entirety of the syringe's contents and set the bottle on the concrete, putting the syringe back and closing the case.

He frowned. Diabetes was not ideal for the apocalypse. But there was no way he was telling anyone about it. Not yet. Maybe Christina. She didn't remember, but he remembered her vividly. On a particularly bad morning resulting in a trip to the hospital, she'd helped him…you know…not die.

Cooper zipped his backpack, looking up at the noise of someone approaching. He immediately thumbed the gun that Owen given to him earlier. He stood, the girls' eyes filling with panic as he pointed the gun at the intruders.

"Relax, Agent 007," Oliver snapped, rolling his eyes as he walked around the hood of a car.

Owen appeared behind him, chuckling slightly. "The safety's still on, buddy."

Cooper flushed with embarrassment, frantically clicking the safety off and lowering the gun. The girls giggled behind him as the two men approached and Cooper reddened furiously. Oliver laughed with them as he strut past Cooper, shoulders brushing, but Owen stopped in front of the EMT.

"It's fine," he said gently, setting a hand on Cooper's shoulder. He was an inch or so taller, so it worked out nicely. "I did the same thing in training. Layla had a laughing fit." He chuckled, reaching up and scratching the back of his neck.

Cooper diverted his eyes from Owen's arms, trying to focus on anything else.

"Damn right I did," Layla's voice came from behind them. The EMT released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Of course, the relief turned to panic as two strangers followed their allies out into the open. They were both teenagers, both looking afraid.

"Boys," Layla introduced. She glanced at the small girls playing with dolls. " _Ladies_ ," the girls giggled wildly. "Meet Cypress and Tarissa. Friendlies."

"You're sure?" Cooper looked to Christina, rather than Layla.

Christina smiled, giving a nod of reassurance and Layla snickered. "Better be, or I'll put two between their eyes."

The boy, tall with copper hair, frowned. "You're not all like her, right?" he asked bravely. Layla laughed, looking around with her rifle over her shoulder.

"No," Owen answered, stepping forwards. He held out his hand and Cypress took it. "Private Owen Darsh. This is Dr. Cooper Lennox," Cooper reddened again, giving a small wave. He wasn't even a doctor, but he didn't correct Owen. It sounded right when he said it anyways. Well…everything sounded right when Owen said it but—Cooper shook his head.

"You've met Christina, I assume," the young EMT cut in. The kids nodded. "This is Beverly, Abigail and Dae." He gestured to them respectively. "Our…" a pause. "Friends…Mathew and Ki-Min should be back any—"

"Get - - road!"

It was quiet. Distant. And yet it silenced everyone at once.

Cooper looked up nervously.

"Get off - road!"

A different voice. Closer this time.

All eyes turned to the hill down the highway.

" _Ki-Min_?" Dae chirped quietly. Cooper glanced at her.

"Girls…" he started, gesturing for them to get up. Layla narrowed her eyes. Christina looked at Owen. Cypress and Tarissa shared a gaze of fear.

" _Get off the road!_ " Mathew and Ki-Min shot up over the hill like bullets from a gun, sprinting at a speed that made Cooper fear they would trip and break their skulls open. Confusion still swarmed the group.

"Girls," Cooper said again. "Get up…" He kept his eyes glued to the men running at them. He heard Abigail stand.

"Get off the fucking road!" Mathew barked.

Cooper's eyes doubled in size when an undead figure staggered over the hill. Another. Another. They kept coming. A mob. A herd. A never-ending swarm of pale-skinned humans.

"Girls! Get up!" Cooper shouted, reeling backwards and scooping up Beverly.

Owen was on his tail, picking up Dae. Christina turned and sprinted at them, grabbing Abigail's hand. Layla raised her weapon.

"Go!" she shouted.

Cooper clutched Beverly tightly as Ki-Min and Mathew joined the group in a full-on sprint. And all he could think was:

 _Please don't die._

 **READ : Ta da! An extra-long chapter! I'm staring on the next one right now! I hope there's still** _ **someone**_ **out there reading this, seeing as I'm working pretty hard to get it going again. Review review review! I want to hear your thoughts on the new characters!**

 **Cooper has Diabetes?! Owen and Oliver have a kill pact?! Layla had a husband?! Can we trust these new comers?!**

 **Thank you to:**

 _ **Fanfictionia for Owen Darsh**_

 _ **Danohz for Mathew Winters**_

 _ **Thedaffodilqueen for Tarissa Tarissa Langley**_

 _ **Nefertam for Cypress Osman**_

 _ **Myself for Dae Paek**_

 **Let me know if Abigail and Beverly are yours, I can't find the PM anywhere!**

 **We still have lots of characters to meet so please bear with me, I know it's a lot but we can't have death without many characters. ;)**

 **Anyways, have a nice day. Update soon.**

 **Till next time.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW!**

 **-AG**

 **Check out the blog :**

 **lifeaswed0ntkn0wit . blogspot . ca**

 **For face references. :)**


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